Registration - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Thanks to all the volunteers for helping out today with registration at Town Hall. Over 1000 players were processed.

This year, in order to collect more accurate information, make registration easier for our volunteers, and reduce late registrations to facilitate the creation of better balanced teams, we switched to the AYSO national on line registration system. Most of you were able to complete the on line process and print out forms without problems. Unfortunately, not all operating systems, browsers and printers worked smoothly with this system. We provided laptops and printers at Town Hall to help those who had issues, but we probably could have used 2 or 3 times as many laptops and printers to cut down on the waiting time. Many of you were able to use computers at the library, which helped. Our webmaster/Registrar Dru Welburn deserves the AYSO equivalent of knighthood for patience and perseverance in helping parents navigate the on line system.

If you had difficulty with the online system, please send me an e mail detailing your problems, including the type of computer, printer, operating system and web browser at david@perlmutterproperties.com. We'll collect the information and share it with AYSO National so that they can use it to improve the system for the future.

For those of you that paid by credit card on April 30th, a system error charged many of you the undiscounted registration fee. We will refund the difference over the next several weeks.

There was one other glitch today for which I take responsibility. I had sent out information that was dutifully forwarded by the division coordinators that registration was starting at 9:00. The official registration start time was scheduled for 9:30. To those that had to wait unnecessarily, I apologize.

Although it was by no means perfect, the vast majority of you were able to register without difficulty. The eAYSO system is constantly being improved, and vastly easier to navigate than it was last year. We'll make note of the lessons learned from today's process, and use that information to improve next year's registration.

Since many of you diligently tried to register but were foiled by the system, we've extended the early bird discount period through 11:59 pm on May 5th. If you continue to experience difficulties, please contact Dru Welburn at dru@ivmost.com before you pull your hair out.

Thank you for your patience and support.

Registration Form Drop Off at Town Hall Saturday

Come one come all to New Castle Town Hall from 9 to 12:30 this Saturday only. Over 700 players have already pre-registered. Don't miss out on the fun!

R and R: Referees and Registration

Chappaqua AYSO has a couple of important events occurring this week.

First, it's John Barnes' Referee Instruction Class on April 28th and 29th from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm at The Bell School. Anyone aged 12 or older is eligible. We recommend that each team in the U10 Division and up have its own "embedded" referee in case student refs are not available. John's class is informative, entertaining and FREE. Whether you want to ref or not, I guarantee you'll have a better understanding of the game upon completion of the class. I've taken the class and always have my yellow Referee's jersey handy and wield my Fox40 whistle proudly.

The second event is Registration Form Drop Off at Town Hall from 9:00 to 12:30. Pre-register on line ahead of time at www.chappaquaayso.org and drop off your signed forms. The first 1000 registrants at Town Hall on Saturday will receive AYSO "Everyone Plays" bands. Over 400 players have already pre-registered for the Fall 2005-Spring 2006. Even though you are filling out forms on line, we still need you to bring in or mail the signed forms to us. Your child is not registered unless we have the signed forms. Webmaster/Registrar Dru Welburn has done a great job of providing instructions on how to pre-register. Make sure that you print out the instructions on the website prior to starting the process.

We'll have half a dozen laptops available at Town Hall on Saturday for those of you that have not been able to pre-register on line. Avoid delays and pre-register today.

We've had a few inquiries about why AYSO needs the paper work when the forms are filled out electronically and payment can be made electronically. There are a few reasons. Registration forms contain an emergency medical release in the event of injury to your child. This authorizes your child's coach to seek medical care in case you are not present. Secondly, since we are a volunteer organization, we need your family volunteer form and your commitment to help with the program during the year. Other than coaches and board members, most volunteers need only commit 1 to 2 hours per year maintaining and preparing equipment, helping with photo day, or with registration.

In fact, we can use your help with registration on April 30th. If you signed up to help with registration when registering last year, you will be hearing from Dennis Greenberg, our Volunteer Coordinator. If you haven't heard from Dennis, but would like to help you can contact him at dgreenberg@dearborn.com. Volunteers will help collect and sort registration forms and family volunteer forms, answer questions, and verify birth information for first time registrants.

You may be wondering why we're starting registration so much earlier this year than in years past. With over 1300 children playing in Chappqua AYSO, organizing the teams is a monumental task for our volunteers, particularly the division coordinators. Every year, they spend a great deal of time during the summer organizing balanced teams so that competition is fair, because we think balanced teams makes it more fun for the kids. However, every summer we have dozens, if not hundreds, of players registering in late August and early September. If everyone registers on time we can do a better job of balancing teams, training coaches, and ensuring that team rosters are small enough so that your kids will get more playing time in games. Last fall the volume of late registrants lead to wait lists in a couple of divisions, a phenomenon we would like to avoid this year!

Please take the time to register your child now. We offer a substantial discount for registering on time. We offer a full refund for any reason for registration withdrawal requests received prior to June 30th. The time you spend registering your child now will make our volunteers' job easier, and more importantly, will help us give your child a better soccer experience.

If you have questions about registration, come see us at Town Hall on April 30th, or contact Dru at dru@ivmost.com.

Register Now for Fall 2005 - Spring 2006 Season

Registration is now open for the Fall 2005-Spring 2006 AYSO Soccer season. Click on the link on the Chappaqua AYSO home page to get registration instructions. For those registering by April 30th, there is a substantial early bird discount. You can now pay online with Visa, MasterCard or American Express, too. You'll still have to mail in the completed forms (Family Volunteer Form, and 2 copies of the player registration form) or bring them to Town Hall on April 30th between 9 and 12:30. First time Chappaqua AYSO players will also have to submit a copy of a birth certificate or other similar proof of age.

We'll be giving out blue AYSO "Everyone Plays" silicone bands to the first 1000 registrants at Town Hall on April 30th, so stop by!

Spring Soccer, Take 2

It looks like the kids will get to play soccer this weekend! The only one of our fields that is closed is Gedney 1, which will affect 3 U10 Boys games and 1 U10 Girls game. If your team is scheduled to play there, contact your coach to find out if your game is being rescheduled, relocated, or cancelled. If you can't reach your coach, contact either Dan Kreisler at dkreisler@optonline.net for the U10 Boys, or Jon Resnick at jresnick@barbizon.com, who is acting as deputy division coordinator for the U10 girls this weekend.

As always, you should check the weather page on www.chappaquaayso.org or the Chappaqua AYSO information hotline at 238-6145 for last minute changes. Please note that the Rec. Department hotline is not a reliable source of information for soccer changes. Use the AYSO hotline instead.

Have fun this weekend!

Recreation Fields at Readers Digest?

Tuesday night I attended the joint Town Board/Town Planning Board session at which the new owners of the Readers Digest property made their initial presentation. The current plan calls for approximately 500,000 SF of office space (reduced from the current 700,000+), plus 348 dwelling units for people 55+ years old. The owners are also planning to maintain over 50 acres of open space. This is a great opportunity for the Town of New Castle to get some additional space for active recreation. If you support the creation of playing fields at the Readers Digest campus please send an email to Jan Wells at jlwells@town.new-castle.ny.us.

For a good time (hanging nets) contact Dennis at dgreenberg@dearborn.com 

Net Hanging Volunteers Needed

We have more nets to hang on goals this Wednesday, April 6th at 6:00. We'll meet at the Greeley Student parking lot. Thanks to Ben, Mike, Dennis, and John for braving the cold rain on Sunday morning, when we completed the 14 U8 goals at Greeley.

Contact Dennis Greenberg at dgreenberg@dearborn.com if you can help.